Forty-You Belong Among the Wildflowers

Seriously I swear I own a ruler! I will make use of it before these hundred days are over.

ThirtyFour-Fourth Generation

If you think this one is bad, you should have seen the first version-yikes! This was very loosely inspired by an event I attended hosted by new employers which celebrated the completion of a major phase of development by the third generation that would set the stage for the fourth generation. Four generations ago my family came off a boat from the old world into the new. As per usual another project with potential to be better next time. Solvent ink and pigment ink markers on shrinkable plastic.

Thirty-Success!(ish)

This project causes me such neuroses that I actually spend part of my therapy checking in with my therapist about it. She actually follows along with the project to see how I'm doing. Today she suggested (since I was feeling stuck and uninspired) that I go back and retry some of the things I've mentioned that I had some success at to see if I just concentrate on improving one thing how it will go. So I decided to try again to make a ring for my niece and it actually (except for the ends which I didn't put a photo of) came out okay, pretty rounded and even considering I only measured the total length and didn't straighten out the sides except by eye. Two things that I have learned to bring into my next attempt are: The edges need to be rounded off, which I think the project I saw online suggested but I forgot until just now and it is very important to have the correct size object to form the ring around.

TwentyEight-Trying and Failing (But It's Okay)

With my brave and trusty assistant by my side Friday night I attempted the infamous shrinkable plastic ring project. It didn't quite work out, but then again I wasn't really expecting it to. I did get some good practice in so when I steel my nerves to try it again I will be better prepared. Here are two attempts plus a random piece that was intended for a card embellishment but didn't quite work out either. The clear ring was stamped and colored by my fearless assistant, the pinkish purplish one was stamped and colored by me.

TwentySeven-Bloomsday

 

Yes, I know "Bloomsday" has nothing to do with flowers whether they are in bloom or not but I am running out of clever titles and this just felt right. I think if I had spent a little more time on this it could have been really something. Honestly, I am doing this to have fun but I do want to try to keep up and not do almost 40 pieces in one Diet Pepsi, Vicodin, and Parliament 100's filled weekend like last year. I am trying to find the balance between enjoyment and discipline and like I alluded to in my previous piece, I will keep going until it is "just right."

TwentySix-Wait, Wasn't I Supposed to Be Making Cards?

 

Oh boy, so I actually made a different pair at first but I bought the wrong size jump rings and then when I bought what I thought were the right size jump rings, I lost one. So then I made these and it turns out these are still the wrong size jump rings, the first ones were too small and these ones are too big. Even if they were the right size, I don't know how to make them sit straight when you put them on, so still some experimenting to be done here. A jewelry designer I am not. But I think this will be a fun project to do with my five year old niece when we have sleepovers. I bought some inexpensive leather cording and I figure we could make some of these and maybe even link them together somehow to make a chain. About the materials: solvent based ink and watercolor pencil on shrinkable plastic with sterling silver French wires and large silver-plated jump rings.

P.S. I'm trying to work up the courage to attempt a cool shrinkable plastic project I saw online when searching for advice on what materials to use on the plastic: shrinkable plastic rings!!!!!

TwentyThree-Now That's a Card

 

Well, I may actually be somewhat happy with one of these. I spent probably the most time on this one and it's so darn cute that there is really only one recipient in the world worthy of it: Babcie. (That would be my grandmother.) I wonder if all that shrinkable plastic will require extra postage?

TwentyOne-(100) Days of Summer

For some reason this $1.00 find rubber stamp reminds me of the hilariously cheesy card Joseph Gordon-Levitt comes up with for his friend in (500) Days of Summer: "Every day I'm proud of you, but today you get a card." Or something like that. Anyway, I really wanted to do a vase with flowers in shrinkable plastic but, big surprise, it didn't quite come out how I was hoping it would so I kind of slapped it together with this stamp and here it is. I am definitely going to try it again as I get better though because I think there is real potential in making it look really good.

Seventeen-Blanched Harlequino

Inspiration Pieces and Original Size Interpretation

Photographed Interpretation

Shrunken Interpretation with Inspiration Pieces

Scanned Interpretation

Here we have me attempting to mix a couple of pieces and add my own spin. I took Fred Chuang's Harlequino, traced the outlines, filled it in with muted, washed out colors (ink and watercolor pencil), and layered Neha Bawa's Blanched on top. In effect, I was trying to take Fred's "rainbow" and "blanch" it to emphasize Neha's "world of black and white". Oh, and I did it on shrinkable plastic because 1. It's fun and 2. To pay homage to Neha's micro poetry. So I used a cheap version of the shrinkable plastic which resulted in the warping and distortion of the rectangle but overall I now know this could definitely be a cool technique to use in the future. I hope Fred and Neha don't mind! :)

Sixteen-Sweet

Shrinkable plastic, watercolor pencils, embossing markers, border punching, and bears, oh my! OK, maybe not that last one. I am like a thirsty man at a bottled water taste test with all my new ideas and products. I want all of them at once and as much as I can get my hands on! Hopefully as I continue to play around I will figure out how to take one element and make it really good and highlight that element. For now, I still have a lot of testing to do! Also, this card was not made for anyone, just made because it was getting late and I knew I had to stop playing and complete a card to put up. I may be able to make some more with some of the other things I've been working on today-lots of shrunken plastic including one completely original abstract drawing done with watercolor pencils.